


Objection

by mandaree1



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Addressing some of the elephants in the room, But also like. Scrooge has messed up a lot, Calling Scrooge out but not villainizing him, Especially with him family, Gen, Scrooge McDuck and his familial issues, Spoilers for The Life and Crimes of Scrooge McDuck!, cross-posted from my tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:08:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29934579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mandaree1/pseuds/mandaree1
Summary: Doofus Drake calls a surprising witness to the stand- the one and only Louie Duck.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 77





	Objection

"Llewellyn, you have been living at Scrooge's home for…. how long, exactly?"

Louie leaned close to the microphone. "I'd just like it on the court record that I despise Llewelyn and wish to be referred to as Louie, please and thank you."

"You're avoiding the question, _Llewellyn_ ," Doofus hummed, smiling. His hands, neatly tucked behind his back, made his demeaner almost seem calm. But nobody could look at Doofus Drake for long and think anything about him was calm.

"I'm just protesting my need to be up here, Mr. Drake." Louie hands curled into fists, tapping restlessly on the wood. "I'm not going to willingly stand by and perjure my client."

A clawed hand descended on his shoulder. The head of security slowly shook his head. "Answer the question, son."

"Fine, fine." He crossed his arms with a pout. "A year and a half-ish."

"Were you and Mr. McDuck close before this arrangement was struck?"

Louie looked at the dog again. He made a go-on gesture. "Well… no. Not really. But the circumstances surrounding this are unrelated to-"

"They're _very_ related, Llewellyn," Doofus tsked. "Scrooge McDuck passes himself off as a family man. It's considered one of his softest attributes. Yet all the cases we've seen today are of families torn asunder- the Beagles, the de Spells, Glomgold and his strange shark thing. I want to know how the McDuck Clan fares in his onslaught of _kindness_."

He sighed, shoulders falling. "Yeah, alright, fine. Dewey blew up Uncle Donald's boat. Scrooge offered us a room."

"He didn't offer to pay for _repairs?_ "

"Uncle Donald wouldn't've accepted."

"That's not what I asked."

Louie was silent a moment. "No. He didn't. But that's because Uncle Scrooge knows Uncle Donald. He knew he would rather have his room than his wallet. He knows his family. Nothing wrong about that."

"He knows his family," Doofus repeated, eyebrows raised. "But not his own great-nephew? Tell me, Llewellyn- how often did you see Scrooge as a duckling? Twice a year?"

Scrooge slammed his fist on the table. "Those circumstances were entirely unrelated!"

"Circumstances?" the security asked.

Louie shot the old duck a glare. "Uncle Scrooge and Uncle Donald had a bit of a fight after… well, after mom disappeared. We didn't see him much growing up."

"How often is 'much'?"

"…We saw interviews of him, sometimes."

"Ye cannae be serious," Scrooge grumbled. "That was a personal family matter! If I could've been with me great-nephews sooner I would have! Family is-"

"And who else is Scrooge close to?" Doofus plowed on. "In the McDuck Clan?"

"He likes mom."

"Anyone else?"

Louie found he didn't have much of an answer to that.

Doofus, seeming to realize this, moved along. "In preparation for this case, I've read up a bit on the McDuck family. Newspapers, documentaries, stolen diaries- that sort of thing. Tell me, Llewelyn- how well do you know your family?"

"That feels like an insult," said Louie, narrowing his eyes.

"I simply wish to gauge how important family is to the defendant. Tell me, how long was Fethry Duck under the ocean?"

"Who?"

Scrooge winced.

"Fethry Duck. A cousin of your mother's- I believe that makes you first cousins once removed. I found an article stating he had been hired to do some cleaning for an underwater lab of Scrooge's. That lab has long since been abandoned, of course, but nothing more has surfaced. I wonder why."

"…Fethry likes the sea," the old duck said quietly.

"And what of Gladstone Gander?"

"Hey, that's different." Louie waved it off. "Uncle Gladstone left home to wander the world and see all the stuff his luck got him. He only came back to Duckberg so he could help Uncle Donald with baby stuff."

Scrooge's scowl wavered a little. "I, uh. I mighta kicked 'em out."

The boy's face fell. " _Uncle Scrooge_."

"He needed ta' learn self-reliance! And it's not like Gladstone was in any danger."

"And if he was?" Doofus pressed. "How would he have contacted you?"

Scrooge opened his beak, then closed it. He sunk down in his chair.

He tsked and turned to speak to the stone statue. " _This_ is Scrooge McDuck, Your Honor. He disowned one of his own children. He stuck the other under the sea. The third, he froze out of his life, cutting off the children from growing up in a financially stable environment. Even his so-called favorite ended up in space and missing a leg. He's no family man. He's just a man, and a man has to pay for his crimes."

The stone statue looked at Doofus, then Scrooge, and finally Louie. She tossed her head and Louie was in the air, landing with a solid **_thunk_** on the guilty platter.

**Author's Note:**

> I did this for the helluva it on tumblr! I thought it would've been a neat twist, so I took a spin on it, and peeps seemed to like it. When peeps like my stuff I like to make it easier for them to find!
> 
> -Mandaree1


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